EDITORIAL: We are lions led by donkeys

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President Donald Trump continued his assault on Canada this week, giving this country a tongue-lashing via video at the World Economic Forum. What he’s planning to unleash on us is not so much a trade war as an attempt to subsume this country into his.

He’s offended because the U.S. imports more from us than we buy from them and he sees that imbalance of trade as some kind of subsidy to Canada.

This has nothing to do with border security. It is everything about creating a model in which Canada bends its knee to America by way of tariffs. Contrary to what he says, he does need our oil. He just doesn’t want to pay for it and he wants us to pay for the privilege of exporting it.

He’s created a “Department of External Revenue” through which he will collect this money. This is reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. It created “tributary vassal states.” Less powerful states sent monetary tributes to a more powerful state in return for protection and privileges.

Trump’s logic is flawed. According to a paper by TD Bank economists Marc Ercolao and Andrew Foran, if you remove oil, natural gas and power from the exports, last year the U.S. enjoyed a trade surplus with Canada of around $60 billion. Canadian exports of energy products amounted to nearly $170 billion, or almost one-third of total shipments.

“In contrast, energy accounted for only 6% of all U.S. imports. Put simply, Canadian sources are critical to U.S. energy security,” the paper says.

In his speech to the WEF, Trump indicated he’s asked Saudi Arabia, via OPEC, to reduce the price of oil and beef up production. So he’s prepared to imperil American energy security by making his country dependent on a theocratic regime on the other side of the world, rather than a democratic, friendly neighbour.

And what’s Canada’s response?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau couldn’t be bothered to put on a tie this week and appeared to have his sweater on back-to-front. Does he know which way is up?

To steal from a book title about the Second World War: We are lions led by donkeys. And we elected them.